Playing it right.

Am I the only person thinking that AVB has played his Lloris card as well as can be deemed possible?

Many a good player has been destroyed by the Premiership after being thrust into the firing-line too early, Gomes being a fine and recent example of this, also De Gea's early struggles also spring to mind.

By giving Lloris time to adapt to a new country, new team-mates and new club he's clearly taken the pressure off and enabled the lad to perform when the team aren't desperate for results, making it a smooth transition.

For me, playing Friedel for the last month should be praised, it's given Hugo the chance to acclimatise and now we should hopefully see the best of him in the coming weeks and months. Although it was a logical progression to wean him in gently, maybe other managers wouldn't have seen it in the same way and maybe would have rushed his promotion to number one, possibly putting him under unnecessary pressure when it was not required.

Brad should be commended for being a great professional and also, by all accounts, actually being a nice-guy to boot, something that is considered rare in football these days. But now is the time that our much-hyped goalkeeper gets to prove on the big stage that he's the real-deal and able to push us forwards, hopefully winning points on his own in the weeks and months to come.

I think AVB has played this situation perfectly, keeping the pressure off and introducing slowly when we weren't totally desperate for a new 'keeper can only be a good thing and should benefit the club both in the short and the long-term, maybe others will disagree with that notion, but hey, it's all opinions.

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AVB continutes to get the big decisions right. Another smart use of substitutes yesterday too. No doubt 'Arry would have thrown Adebayor in from the start as opposed to letting him find his feet against tired legs. Our second best ever start to a PL season. Well done AVB!

Completely agree, and I'd expect Brad to be back for the chelsea game and then Lloris to play against Maribor and then his first away prem game at Southampton. But going into November a decisions going to have to be made as to whether he's ready to be the settled number one with some tough games lined up in a row.

Good points there crissybwoy... we will see over the next 3 months, if AVB is correct in slowly introducing Lloris to the no.1 GK position (think he is) .. I concur that non PL players have always needed time to adapt to the speed and strength in this league, as in any club, new outfield players show this every time.. so GK are the same IMO.

I also think with the international matches coming up AVB had to play LLoris in PL match so he cements his place as Frances No1 , if Llloris was dropped for france due to not playing it would of had a big impact on the player - well done AVB

There was no easy way to bring such a great record of consecutive games to an end. Brad can have no complaints, the writing was on the wall and yes I think AVB was quite astute in the handling of the media and the guys themselves. However if Hugo is to become the no 1, he must now do so on merit. I hope AVB doesn't keep swopping them in the PL.

South, sorry but I do not think AVB gives a flying ***** about france, I would not
I think he is going to be a great manager in the making ... i just hope we beat Chelski, for him as much as us fans he deserves us to beat them!!

Good point South L/Derry Spurs. I was thinking also it was a bit more of a coincidence that the internationals were coming up. Bit of politics as well, keeps the French management and media off AVBs back.

our keeper will never have a easier game in the PL. yet again walker was brainless and cluless, lennon was average good goal though, defoe was again selfish and all he wanted to do was score. when ade came on we kept ball a lot more.

seems as if AVB can not win in the press. Listening to talksport this morning darren lewis was banging on about how he shouldnt have left Friedel out when only a few weeks ago the press was united in damning AVB for not picking Lloris even though he had only hours before signed on the dotted line.... surely they will find something/one else to pick on in the futeure. Future looks bright the future is lillywhite

In football, you can only beat what's put in front of you or at least try, regardless of how good or bad that side is. Hugo Lloris has had only 3 games to date for us, 2 clean sheets, 1 goal conceded, so his doing ok, does he keep the 2 centre backs focused more, he does come off his line and judges it right when he does, that helps, his only mistake yesterday was throwing the ball out quickly to get another attack going, which found a villa player instead of a team mate, i don't class that as a major problem. In the match post from friday, i hoped Lloris would play, replacing the ''american idol'' i hoped for a clean sheet, had us down for 2-0 or 3-0, i thought defoe would score, but got that wrong, also mentioned caulker would score from a corner, that presence of mind by caulker to back heel the ball into the net, was class :-) from defoe's pass and resulting corner, had us down for 3 goals away at man u, had bale as one of the scorers, got the other 2 wrong, if this crystal ball does not start getting all the goal scorers right a may have to sell it on ebay, it's safely packed away, until required for chelsea, coming soon to a ground near you, but well done to Aaron Lennon, only i don't want to wait another 10months for your next goal, 2 weeks would be ok by me.

think it was a great piece of phycology from AVB and perfect timing. this selection instantly removes any French *****e from the likes of dechamps in moaning about Lloris not playing and in turn takes away pressure from both player and manager and also perhaps even allows a bit of positive spin from the french camp. I would also suggest that in at least removing the unbroken run of games for Friedel it now allows for a greater, emotion free resting of Friedel on occasions, even if we see Friedel back against Chelsea, where he will be rested and allowed to focus as opposed to Lloris who will have had two international games, so again there would be justification in reselecting Friedel if he saw fit.

MP81yid, to be honest, Darren Lewis was the only journalist who openly supported AVB backing Freidel when Daily ail & Sun were 'on the attack' on AVB. So, he atleast sticks to his views - for that I respect him - one of the very few honest journo.

I don't think that it makes much of a difference who goes in, apart from the fact that Lloris is obviously the long-term choice. Some may say that get him in early, and others will say that Friedel has done a bang up job thus far and is not finished yet. I disagree about the Gomes statement because when Gomes joined, it was different. Lloris was signed in the midst of the season, Gomes wasn't. Lloris obviously needs time to move, acclimatize etc... after not knowing whether he would be playing in France or England the following weekend. I also do not believe that it has been played correctly either. I do not believe that the signing of Lloris was necessary until perhaps January or next summer. Once here, AVB said stuff which unsettled Lloris - which should have been said to Lloris personally before it was publicly said. Lloris makes his debut, makes 2 mistakes - but generally in control against a team that should have scored. Overall, I do not think that the goalkeeper scenario is newsworthy really - apart from Friedel's insane consecutive game record coming to an end. I cannot believe that the poll on the right is currently having Sandro as MOTM...did anyone watch the game? The guy's passing needs some work. We did not control midfield until second half, and Sandro is partly responsible for that. Dembele on the other hand did some incredible tackling, inspired passing and is showing me that - whilst no one can replace the unique Modric - he is as close as we are going to get without bankrupting ourselves. Vertonghen was good too.

First clean sheet this season. When Lloris sweeped up on Sunday, those would of been chances for Villa, which would of made our defence drop deeper to protect from balls over the top, inviting more pressure and eventually conceding. Lloris must stay!

Block D Spurs - Harry has a bull in a china shop style of management. It works, but with some collateral damage. Too early to judge AVB's Spurs management style. But his handling of Chelsea's players was definitely not good either. The main difference between Harry and AVB is that Harry past changing/learning, and AVB is currently learning the game and how to manage players.

TC - Aston Villa should have scored due the Lloris's error. He also had a save early on that he should have tipped over the bar. Instead, he punched it back out into the box, which is inexcusable. Lloris's performance was average, and not on the level of Friedel's current performances yet. BUT it was his first game vs English opposition.

AUSSIE - agreed that AVB doesnt give a *****e about france, but what he does care about is the morale of a french captain potentially getting dropped as he isnt playing first team football ! Everyones a winner with his selection on saturday bar Brad .

Agree with the article 100%, would have been an unnecessary gamble for AVB to throw Lloris in at the deep end, as so many on here would have liked. Friedel was playing well enough, to buy more time for Lloris to settle. 1st game in English football wasnt perfect, but hopefully he grows in confidence and performance levels.

The point about France, I think, is that if Lloris were dropped as the French GK, it would have affected negatively Lloris's psych, which is something AVB would not want to do. AVB allowed Friedel to save face by keeping him playing for the first matches of the season, but AVB needed to make to switch not to later into the season. Whether what he did was perfect in terms of timing, it was pretty decently done.

TR, I would rate his performance as very decent. The punch out was not "inexcusable" it is a method used by Euro GK's a lot. Gomes used it often also. The one inexcusable action was not seeing the offensive player when throwing the ball out to the left back. Other than that he showed courage in going for the ball against on rushing players, quick to get off his line and beat offensive players to the ball and very commanding of the air in his box. However he was never really under prolonged pressure where the opposition gets 3 or 4 corners in a row or a mad scramble in the box. But I expect great things from him as we go on.

Great article Crissyboy sums it up perfectly. AVB handled a difficult situation superbly. I love the fact the whole squad is finally being managed correctly and we are competing on all fronts. Good stuff. Looking back on the previous regime now, Redknapp had a small club mentality and seems amaturish now in comparison.

@TonyRich, the point about Gomes was entirely valid, yes he had a pre-season with us, which Lloris didn't, but then Gomes came straight into a team that instantly struggled and got 2 points from 8 games, shipping a ridiculous amount of goals and being taught about the English game from a goalkeeping coach that Ramos (who didn't know the game himself) brought with him. It was only after Tony Parks was employed that Gomes started to show glimpses of his true quality, but by then he'd already been slated by the press for his numerous 'gaffes'. He was thrust into a team that was immediately struggling, which is exactly the same as if Lloris had started after our first 3 games of the season when we had a grand total of 2 points. There was no need to rush it, we've won the last 4 league games in a row, pointing towards the fact that the situation has been managed well. As the first post says, it's about getting the big decisions right, Harry lost Lennon last season and his solution was to play 4 or 5 players out of position, square pegs in round holes, (Modric on the left etc) and it cost us fourth place. The day I hear AVB say "people tell me 4-4-2 is our best formation" then he'll also be dead to me, just like the last chump became, however that'll never happen, it helps to have brains when managing a top club in a top division. Harry couldn't speak English properly, AVB is fluent, simple upgrades lead to simple improvements. Early doors, I'm happy with the season so far, still in all the cups, simple improvement.

Thanks to everyone for their input. SRV, I get bored of saying how good your posts are lol, we clearly share similar philosophies on football, ranging from treating cups with importance to involving the whole squad, it's all good. Much respect is due my friend, your wise and thoughtful posts are always valued.

Thanks Crissy, likewise. AVB has a difficult job and it's not helpful our own fans being so critical so soon. He's very very young, some of the players have been in that dressing room for years and must feel much more at home than he does, and he came into the club with the media branding him a failure and him replacing media-darling Redknapp. And that on the back of a huge turnover of players. Not easy to stamp your authority, gain respect and get the team playing. He's doing a good job considering, it'll get easier and easier as time goes on. If we can get reasonable results during this transition phase, that'll keep the boo-boys/media at bay and we'll be on the right road. I'm positive - I think the Chelsea game is huge, a win would really cement AVB in the eyes of the fans and media. We will be analysing Chelsea and will set up accordingly - I have every confidence we'll do a job on them. Now that would be sweet!

Couldnt agree more, played it just right, not too many changes at once which was a big concern of mine initially. Hes given Loris and Caulker time to bed in after their late arrival and no pre season. Credit where its due